Chapter 8: Jesus' New Commandments.

Since Jesus crucifixion and resurrection, many of the ceremonial laws have
become obsolete because of their fulfillment on the cross. But what about God's
10 commandments? Were they fulfilled on the cross as well? What does the New
Testament teach us about this? Were all 10 commandments obsolete after the
resurrection of Jesus? Were some obsolete? Let's find out what the Bible tells
us.

It is amazing the amount of Bible texts that we can find from Acts to Revelation
referring of the importance of keeping God's commandments. However, we cannot
find one Bible text from Acts to Revelation telling the Christians to make sure
to keep the Sabbath day of the Lord holy! Quite the contrary. Col 2:16-17
"Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard
to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a
shadow of the things that were to come;
the reality, however, is found in
Christ."

As we have seen in chapter 7b, the Sabbath is referred to as a shadow that found
it's reality in Christ. Christ is our Sabbath! He is the One who will give us
rest, not just for one day a week, but continually. He promised this in Matt
11:28-29: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and
I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

Let us look at several Bible texts encouraging us to keep each of God's 10
commandments:

1. Commandment 1: Ex 20:3
"You shall have no other gods before me."

1 Cor 8:5-6 "For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on
earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us
there is
but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and
there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through
whom we live."

1 Cor 12:2 "You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were
influenced and led astray to mute idols."

Gal 4:8-9 "Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by
nature are not gods."

2. Commandment 2: Ex 20:4-6
"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the
form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a
jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and
fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand [
generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments."

1 John 5:21 "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols."

3. Commandment 3: Ex 20:7
"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your
God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."

James 2:7 "Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to
whom you belong?"

1 Tim 1:20 "Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to
Satan to be taught not to blaspheme."

4. Commandment 4: Ex 20:8-11
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath
to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son
or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien
within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the
sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the
LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."

No Bible text from Acts to Revelation backing this up!

5. Commandment 5: Ex 20:12
"Honor your father and your mother, so that you
may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you."

Eph 6:2-3 "Honor your father and mother"-which is the first commandment with
a promise-"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the
earth."

6. Commandment 6: Ex 20:13
"You shall not murder."

1 Peter 4:15-16 "If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or
any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler."

1 John 3:15 "Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that
no
murderer has eternal life in him."

7. Commandment 7: Ex 20:14
"You shall not commit adultery."

Eph 5:3-4 "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality,
or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's
holy people."

1 Cor 6:9-10 "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of
God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral
nor idolaters nor
adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders."

8. Commandment 8: Ex 20:15
"You shall not steal."

1 Peter 4:15-16 "If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or
thief or
any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler."

Eph 4:28 "He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing
something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with
those in need."

All 10 commandments are taught in the New Testament, except the Sabbath
commandment! What does this tell us? It tells us that we have rest now in Jesus,
not once a week, but every day of the week!

Jesus seems to bring the 10 commandments to a next level. He makes us aware that
we all have transgressed and still are transgressing God's commandments.

Read Matt 5:21-30: "You have heard that it was said to the people long ago,
'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell
you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.
Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin.
But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell. "

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that
your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the
altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your
gift. "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do
it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the
judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown
into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the
last penny. "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I
tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed
adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it
out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than
for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to
sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your
body than for your whole body to go into hell."

Jesus brings God's commandments alive! He brings these commandments one step
further. Jesus went deeper than the letter of the law to divulge its spirit. "Do
not murder" includes do not be angry. "Do not commit adultery" includes
fantasizing about the opposite sex. "Remember the Sabbath Day" means to bring
all your worries to Jesus on a daily basis (Not weekly!) and He will give you
rest.

No one else has brought so much life out of God's commandments! We all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God! Rom 3:23 "for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God." Only by going to Jesus and accepting Him into
our life can we find rest for our souls (Mat 11:29)!

Once an expert of the law asked Jesus: Matt 22:36
"Teacher, which is the
greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus answered vv. 37-40 "Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and
greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as
yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

In other words, love should be our guiding motive in life. Anything we do must
be guided from above, otherwise all of our efforts are futile. Love for God and
love for mankind. How could we do any less than our Master Jesus Christ?

If we read carefully throughout the New Testament, we discover that Jesus
explicity gave us some commandments. Some of them He even called "new". Let us
explore these commandments. If Jesus ordered them to us, they must be important!

i. Commandment to believe in Jesus

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

1 John 3:21-24 "Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have
confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his
commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the
name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those
who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that
he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us."

ii. Commandment to love one another

John 13:34-35 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved
you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my
disciples, if you love one another."

This is a very powerful commandment for loving one another! What is the purpose
of this commandment? "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if
you love one another." Is your church practicing this new command from Jesus?
Are you attracting the unsaved to your church by your love for one another?

1 John 3:11-12 "This is the message you heard from the beginning:
We should love
one another."

1 John 4:8-12 "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the
world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but
that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear
friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has
ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made
complete in us."

If love is not in existence in your life or in your church, I am sorry, you nor
your church know God!

1 John 4:19-21 "We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God,"
yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother,
whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us
this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother."

Anyone who says he/she loves God and faithfully keeps the first 4 commandments
concerning loving God will all their heart, is a liar! You cannot love God and
hate anyone, especially someone in the faith!

This is confirmed in 1 John 2:3-11 "We know that we have come to know him if we
obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he
commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word,
God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:
Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. Dear friends, I am not
writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the
beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you
a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing
and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but
hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in
the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates
his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not
know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him."

The following Bible texts were pronounced by Jesus Himself prior to His
crucifixion. You need to read them in succession to understand the full meaning
of them. This is close to Jesus' heart and He wants you for any of His disciples
to obey these instructions:

a. John 14:15-18 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask
the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- the
Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor
knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will
not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

b. John 14:21 "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves
me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show
myself to him."

c. John 15:9-11 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in
my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have
obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love."

d. John 15:14-15 "You are my friends if you do what I command."

What does Jesus command from us? Here is His answer:

e. John 15:12-13 "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."

f. John 15:17 "This is my command: Love each other."

It is true that this notion of loving others as you love yourself can also be
found in the Old Testament. However, the New Testament reinforces this notion
constantly.

Lev 19:18 "Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but
love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."

1 Thess 4:9-10 "Now about
brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you
yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love
all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more
and more."

How did God teach the believers in Thessalonica to love one another? The next
Bible text will shed some light in this.

1 John 3:21-24 "Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have
confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his
commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the
name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those
who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that
he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us."

It is interesting to note that the Sabbath is not listed as the proof that Jesus
lives within us. Instead, we are told: John 14:26-27: "by the Spirit he gave
us". No wonder that Jesus promised in John 14:26-27: "But the Counselor, the
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you all things and
will remind you of everything I have said to you" and that John 16:13 tells us:
"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes,
he will guide you into all truth." You
want to know God's truth my friend? Ask God's Holy Spirit into your life and
believe in Him. He will guide you in all truth! God's Word will become alive
under His guidance. You won't have to depend on others to find out what the
Bible is trying to teach you. The best counselor of the Universe will be your
guide! Jesus promised Him. Jesus never lied! This is an awesome promise!

iii. Commandment to preach the gospel

Matt 28:18-20 "Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and
on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with
you always, to the very end of the age."

It is interesting that Jesus stresses the fact that we are to teach others
"to
obey everything I have commanded you". The Bible texts that we have listed in
this and the previous sections are what Jesus commanded!

Acts 10:42 "He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is
the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead."

Are you following God's commandments? I hope so. Once Jesus lives in you through
His Holy Spirit, you cannot do otherwise than to love your brothers and sisters
in the faith and to preach His gospel. His loves is so evident in your life that
you want to share this awesome God with all those who don't know Him. Have you
experienced Him - I mean really experienced Him - in your life?